Heartfelt Pleas for Justice Echo at Harlem Funeral for 2-Year-Old Boy, Allegedly Killed by Father

At just 32 months old, Maliek Morrison’s life was tragically cut short, allegedly at the hands of his father, leaving his family devastated. On Thursday, loved ones gathered at the boy’s funeral to remember the joyful spirit who brought light into their lives.

During the service, family members shared heartfelt stories about Maliek’s infectious smile and his tiny legs that would energetically carry him through the park with delight.

Amid the shared memories, there was a strong call for justice and the protection of vulnerable children from harm, even when the threat comes from those closest to them.

“Maliek’s life—and his untimely death—will not be in vain,” declared the family’s obituary, read aloud at the funeral held at Harlem’s Mother AME Zion Church. “Justice for Maliek is more than a slogan. It is a vow, a movement, a demand that no other child’s cries for help go unheeded.”

The church’s altar was adorned with bright white lilies and deep red roses, surrounding a small white casket that could scarcely contain all his toys. Photographs capturing the 2-year-old’s happy moments filled the space, showcasing his ever-present smile.

Many of these images featured his mother, Cyndy Williams, who once shared in Maliek’s joyful expressions. Now, her face reflected profound grief as she stood by, watching the hearse carry her son’s small coffin away on a snowy street.

For days, Williams had maintained hope that Maliek would survive the brutal beating in a Queens shelter that left him with a blown right pupil, fractured pelvis, lacerations to his liver and brain damage.

Maliek lingered on the edge of death for five days before succumbing to his injuries on Feb. 4.

“From the very moment he opened his eyes each morning, he greeted the day with the biggest, most beautiful smile,” Maliek’s obituary said.

“Before anything else, he would quietly push open Mommy’s bedroom door, climb into the bed, and snuggle close. Those morning cuddles were sacred. They were love in its simplest and most powerful form.”

“Every day that I woke up, he would be in my face, staring at me, eyes wide open, waiting for food,” said Maliek’s cousin, Joseph Edwards, who often watched the boy when his mother went to work.

Maliek’s father, Dayvon Morrison, 30, was charged with murder and acting in a manner injurious to a child for the savage Jan. 30 assault.

Maliek was staying with his father at the Manhattan View Hotel, which is being used as a homeless shelter, on 21st St. near 38th Ave. in Long Island City, when he was attacked, cops said.

After spending a night in the hotel-turned-shelter, Morrison woke up the next morning to Maliek’s face covered in bruises — but did not seek medical help, prosecutors said. He later told cops he must have hit Maliek the night before, but that he’d been drinking and couldn’t recall what happened, according to court papers.

After Morrison returned his other child to that child’s mother in East Harlem on Monday, someone in that household called police about Maliek, according to court papers.

Medics rushed Maliek to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell where he died days later.

Relatives said Maliek had been caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle, and they railed against the courts and the city’s child welfare agency,

“Anyone who knew Maliek knew this truth: He was the sweetest child. All he wanted was love. All he deserved was love,” the obituary said. “No mother should have to live with the memory of her baby’s last moments being filled with violence instead of safety. That kind of pain does not fade. It does not soften. It lives in the heart forever.”